In the vast majority of cases, the procedure is totally painless, and there is little or no discomfort.  Immediately after the procedure, your eye may feel a little gritty and sore, and your vision can be a bit misty. However, the eye will rapidly begin to heal and recover over the next few days.

Generally speaking, complications associated with laser refractive surgery are extremely rare. When they do occur, in the vast majority of cases, we can manage them well. The main symptom that patients experience is dry eye. Again, in the vast majority of cases, by the three-month mark, the symptoms will have totally resolved. We can usually treat the dry eye with drops or other medications that can alleviate the symptoms.

Here at Cathedral Eye Clinic, we’re one of the only eye clinics in Ireland that can offer laser surgery to correct presbyopia. Presbyopia is the condition that all patients will typically experience between the ages of about 45 and 60, where we lose our reading vision. Traditionally, this has been approached using lens replacement surgery. However, here at Cathedral Eye, we offer a laser corrective procedure, a refractive procedure that blends your vision to provide both distance vision and near vision without the need for invasive lens surgery.

Typically, following your laser refractive procedure, recovery time is very fast, and the vast majority of patients usually resume their normal day-to-day activities within just a few days of the procedure. There will be some limitations that we will provide advice and information about, including what to avoid and what you can or can’t do. But generally speaking, recovery times are extremely short.

Depending on the precise type of refractive procedure you undertake, your age at the time of the procedure, and your prescription, in the vast majority of cases, your prescription will remain stable for many years after the surgery. In a small proportion of cases, you may require an enhancement or a touch-up surgery at some point. Additionally, if you develop a cataract, you may need lens surgery to maintain your prescription.

There is a small proportion of patients who won’t be suitable for SMILE laser eye surgery. This may be based on your prescription or other factors, such as having a very thin cornea or other medical conditions that could make SMILE surgery unsafe. Generally speaking, we perform laser surgery on patients after the age of 21. The main reason is that we want their prescription for glasses and contact lenses to be as stable as possible before performing the surgery to obtain a more accurate result.